Staff Pick

Wendy McClure takes us on a trip down memory lane, recalling her fascination with the Little House series of books (and TV program) while growing up in the 1970s. As an adult, she becomes consumed with "Laura World," and, hoping to experience that magical connection again, she re-reads the series, prepares food from the cookbook, and travels to many of Laura Ingalls Wilder's home sites. Whether or not you're a Little House on the Prairie fan, you'll enjoy this memoir and fascinating look at life in the late 1800s.Recommended by Kim S., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder — a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family — looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometowns. Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of the Laura experience. Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about girlhood and the American West.

The Wilder Life is a loving, irreverent, spirited tribute to a series of books that have inspired generations of American women. It is also an incredibly funny first-person account of obsessive reading, and a story about what happens when we reconnect with our childhood touchstones-and find that our old love has only deepened.

Review:

"The Wilder Life is a tribute to the Little House books that's both reverent and irreverent-in a thoughtful, hilarious way. I couldn't put it down." Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

"Mandatory reading for all "bonnetheads" - and the people who love them!" Alison Arngrim, TV's Nellie Oleson and New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of A Prairie Bitch

"Wendy McClure's The Wilder Life evoked so much of an almost palpable nostalgia that I felt like I was walking into my childhood dollhouse every time I opened the book. I absolutely loved this book." Julie Klam, author of You Had Me at Woof

"The Wilder Life perfectly captures the wistful, poignant, goofy nature of Little House lust. It also offers some important lessons on late 19th century land rights and butter churning. Now that's my kind of book!" Meghan Daum, author of Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House

Synopsis:

Ride the rails to a spirited adventure at the turn of the century!

When the town sheriff discovers the exact location of Wanderville,” the orphans who live there—Jack, Frances, Harold, Alexander, and their new friends—must flee their home in the woods.

They take to the rails and, after nearly being caught, are rescued by a seemingly kind reverend and his wife. The pair brings the children to their home, telling them that if they help the sharecroppers who run their farm, they will eventually be adopted.

But Frances cant stop thinking about a mysterious treasure mentioned to her by a hobo they met during their travels, and when a young African-American sharecropper is blamed for stealing a fiddle her brother Harold actually nabbed, the citizens of Wanderville will have to decide whether their community is heading in the right direction or whether they need to get their town” back on track.

Synopsis:

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometowns. Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of "the Laura experience." Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about girlhood and the American West.

The Wilder Life is a loving, irreverent, spirited tribute to a series of books that have inspired generations of American women. It is also an incredibly funny first-person account of obsessive reading, and a story about what happens when we reconnect with our childhood touchstones-and find that our old love has only deepened.

About the Author

Wendy McClure is an author, a columnist for BUST magazine, and a children's book editor. Her essays have appeared in the The New York Times Magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, and in a number of anthologies, including Love Is A Four-Letter Word (Plume), Feed Me (Ballantine) and Sleepaway: Writings on Summer Camp (Riverhead). In addition, she has contributed to the radio show Writers Block Party on NPR station WBEZ in Chicago, and has spoken at conferences for BlogHer and American Society of Journalists and Authors, and for literary events at The Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Festival and StoryStudio Chicago. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Wendy is a part-time senior editor at Albert Whitman & Company, where she has edited over fifty novels and picture books for children and has written (and ghostwritten) a few of her own. She has been a speaker and visiting editor at a number of Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conferences around the country.

She was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and now lives in Chicago with her fiance, Chris, in a neighborhood near the river.

Wendy McClure takes us on a trip down memory lane, recalling her fascination with the Little House series of books (and TV program) while growing up in the 1970s. As an adult, she becomes consumed with "Laura World," and, hoping to experience that magical connection again, she re-reads the series, prepares food from the cookbook, and travels to many of Laura Ingalls Wilder's home sites. Whether or not you're a Little House on the Prairie fan, you'll enjoy this memoir and fascinating look at life in the late 1800s.

by Kim S.

"Review"
by ,
"The Wilder Life is a tribute to the Little House books that's both reverent and irreverent-in a thoughtful, hilarious way. I couldn't put it down." Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

"Mandatory reading for all "bonnetheads" - and the people who love them!" Alison Arngrim, TV's Nellie Oleson and New York Times bestselling author of Confessions of A Prairie Bitch

"Wendy McClure's The Wilder Life evoked so much of an almost palpable nostalgia that I felt like I was walking into my childhood dollhouse every time I opened the book. I absolutely loved this book." Julie Klam, author of You Had Me at Woof

"The Wilder Life perfectly captures the wistful, poignant, goofy nature of Little House lust. It also offers some important lessons on late 19th century land rights and butter churning. Now that's my kind of book!" Meghan Daum, author of Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House

"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,

Ride the rails to a spirited adventure at the turn of the century!

When the town sheriff discovers the exact location of Wanderville,” the orphans who live there—Jack, Frances, Harold, Alexander, and their new friends—must flee their home in the woods.

They take to the rails and, after nearly being caught, are rescued by a seemingly kind reverend and his wife. The pair brings the children to their home, telling them that if they help the sharecroppers who run their farm, they will eventually be adopted.

But Frances cant stop thinking about a mysterious treasure mentioned to her by a hobo they met during their travels, and when a young African-American sharecropper is blamed for stealing a fiddle her brother Harold actually nabbed, the citizens of Wanderville will have to decide whether their community is heading in the right direction or whether they need to get their town” back on track.

"Synopsis"
by Penguin,

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometowns. Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of "the Laura experience." Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about girlhood and the American West.

The Wilder Life is a loving, irreverent, spirited tribute to a series of books that have inspired generations of American women. It is also an incredibly funny first-person account of obsessive reading, and a story about what happens when we reconnect with our childhood touchstones-and find that our old love has only deepened.

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